* The Ontario government has quietly repealed a regulation that required a municipal referendum before a municipality could become host to a new casino, replacing it with a less onerous requirement “to seek public input.”

“All of a sudden we have a regulation in almost total secrecy,” said New Democrat MPP Michael Prue. “They’re sneaking changes through that will strip communities of their voice.”

Earlier the Ontario Lottery and Gaming identified 29 “gaming zones” across the province where gambling already exists or where a new casino should be built. It also identified five geographic regions in the province that could become home to a new casino.

* Tory MPP Rob Milligan asked Finance Minister Dwight Duncan during question period Thursday why the government was "denying students—who in some cases are old enough to vote and join the armed forces to fight and die for this great country—the freedom to buy the same foods you can buy?" He was referring to reports that some school boards were looking at closing school cafeterias in the wake of a Liberal initiative to sell healthy food in schools.

"I think this is the new Tory white paper Pathways to Obesity," Duncan shot back. " You may be the party of cheeseburgers. We’re the party of healthy kids, healthy lifestyles."

* Tory MPP Todd Smith and Liberal MPP Yasir Naqvi introduced legislation Thursday that would facilitate the use of electronic agreements of purchase on the purchase and sale of real estate in the province. Ontario realtors have been been reluctant to use electronic agreements because they are exempt from the legal protections afforded by the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000.

* Police were called to a Town of Kearney budget committee meeting because a citizen was reportedly videotaping the session. Jeff Johnston Jr., the son of former mayor Jeff Johnston, told the Almaguin News that he had started to tape the proceedings because “after about 20 to 30 minutes it became apparent that some very bad accounting had gone into the 2012 budget and the consultant was pointing out error after error.” No charges were laid.

* The Ontario Association of Gastroenterology is the latest medical group to protest the government's move to reduce fees. Association President Dr. David Baron said Thursday that the decision will affect patient care as well as access to medical screenings and diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. OAG members perform a majority of procedures outside of hospitals where, they say, costs are actually increasing. The OAG says technology has made some procedures easier but colonoscopies are more complex than they were two decades ago.

* A Harris-Decima poll conducted for the Canadian Federation of Students has found nearly 80 per cent of all Canadians believe that tuition fees should be frozen at current levels or lowered. Strangely, in Quebec, where ongoing protests and riots against a proposed 75 per cent increase over five years have disrupted school proceedings, only 65 per cent believe tuition fees should not be increased.

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